Britian does it!
November 20, 2006 9:52 AM Subscribe
According to CNN, the US Mint is coming out with a new dollar. Apparently collectors just hung onto the Sacagawea dollar coin. Let's also not forget what happened to the Susan B. Anthony (Wikipedia) which many thought was a quarter. Speaking of, not only is the Mint making the dollar over again, they're taking the idea that worked with the Quarter. They're going to put different presidents on the new dollar.
More coins, if you thought I didn't say "dollar" enough.
Does Grover Cleveland get two non-consecutive coins?
posted by Floydd at 10:04 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by Floydd at 10:04 AM on November 20, 2006
"Moy said the Mint's successful 50-state quarters program helped push usage of the coins as even collectors spent their duplicate versions."
Yeah, Moy, that's why people use quarters. The state thing.
Oh this is classic. The people from the mint repeat over and over that they "learned their lessons" from past dollar coin failures, and then turn around and totally spit in the face of those lessons learned. Get ready for another fifty-trillion-dollar coin failure.
posted by Plutor at 10:07 AM on November 20, 2006
Yeah, Moy, that's why people use quarters. The state thing.
Oh this is classic. The people from the mint repeat over and over that they "learned their lessons" from past dollar coin failures, and then turn around and totally spit in the face of those lessons learned. Get ready for another fifty-trillion-dollar coin failure.
posted by Plutor at 10:07 AM on November 20, 2006
I'm always vaguely surprised to see the Sacajawea dollars still in circulation. You get them from the weirdest places; change-dispensing machines sometimes spit them out instead of (excessive numbers of) quarters, some businesses use them as standard currency units, etc. I guess they surprise me in the same way $2 bills surprise me--yeah, they're still being made, and are still legal tender, but they're such oddities that people usually just hold on to them after gaining possession of them. Kind of a vicious cycle. The only way to avoid that kind of hoarding would be to FLOOD the market with them, and somehow try to supplant the traditional paper $1 bill. Since I don't see any mechanism in place for that happening, I'm led to believe the same thing's going to happen to this set as happened to the last two.
posted by Mayor West at 10:07 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by Mayor West at 10:07 AM on November 20, 2006
But limited Sacagawea quantities led to too many being stashed away by collectors, reducing circulation and thus familiarity
Yeah, I'm sure the Sacagawea dollar is failing because of collector hoarding, and not because you never ever see one outside of a post office.
If they ever want a dollar coin to catch on, the Mint is going to have to cooperate with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing or whoever and take some paper dollars out of circulation. Also, I like how their solution to the shortage problem was to design a whole new coin instead of making more of the one we don't have enough of.
posted by rkent at 10:09 AM on November 20, 2006
Yeah, I'm sure the Sacagawea dollar is failing because of collector hoarding, and not because you never ever see one outside of a post office.
If they ever want a dollar coin to catch on, the Mint is going to have to cooperate with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing or whoever and take some paper dollars out of circulation. Also, I like how their solution to the shortage problem was to design a whole new coin instead of making more of the one we don't have enough of.
posted by rkent at 10:09 AM on November 20, 2006
Mayor West: "...somehow try to supplant the traditional paper $1 bill."
Easy. Stop making it. The average life of a dollar bill is 18-22 months. Exactly how long it'll take people to get used to not needing them anymore.
posted by Plutor at 10:09 AM on November 20, 2006
Easy. Stop making it. The average life of a dollar bill is 18-22 months. Exactly how long it'll take people to get used to not needing them anymore.
posted by Plutor at 10:09 AM on November 20, 2006
Instead of "In God We Trust," will George W. Bush's coin say "But God Told Me To"?
posted by pardonyou? at 10:10 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by pardonyou? at 10:10 AM on November 20, 2006
If they really want people to use these, they'll do what Canada did and eliminate the dollar bill. But that'll never happen.
(Actually, when they did it in Canada, more people just started using $2 bills. Then they replaced THAT with a coin too).
posted by evilcolonel at 10:11 AM on November 20, 2006
(Actually, when they did it in Canada, more people just started using $2 bills. Then they replaced THAT with a coin too).
posted by evilcolonel at 10:11 AM on November 20, 2006
Side note, via BoingBoing, at 4 presidents per year, in 2016, they'll be issuing Richard Nixon and 2017 Clinton and the Bushes...
posted by wendell at 10:12 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by wendell at 10:12 AM on November 20, 2006
As the article says:
The law specifies no living former president can appear on a coin, but chances are high that Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will still be alive when it comes time for their dollars in 2017.
posted by smackfu at 10:17 AM on November 20, 2006
The law specifies no living former president can appear on a coin, but chances are high that Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will still be alive when it comes time for their dollars in 2017.
posted by smackfu at 10:17 AM on November 20, 2006
Having just come back from some time in Canada, I'm all for one dollar and two dollar coins, and getting rid of the bills. It is just so much easier. Plus, who has 6 quarters for a soda or for a laundromat?
posted by QIbHom at 10:19 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by QIbHom at 10:19 AM on November 20, 2006
They still print $2 bills?
posted by SisterHavana at 10:19 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by SisterHavana at 10:19 AM on November 20, 2006
As long as Ted Kennedy is in office, the paper dollar will continue to circulate. That's because the company that makes the paper for US currency, Crane and Company, is located in Massachusetts. Whenever the thought of removing dollar bills from circulation is brought up, Kennedy goes to work to save the jobs that might be lost back home - probably in the low double-digits.
/yes, I'm a liberal Democrat.
posted by elmwood at 10:21 AM on November 20, 2006
/yes, I'm a liberal Democrat.
posted by elmwood at 10:21 AM on November 20, 2006
Does Grover Cleveland get two non-consecutive coins?
Yep. A real boon for us lonely Cleveland fans.
posted by Bromius at 10:21 AM on November 20, 2006
Yep. A real boon for us lonely Cleveland fans.
posted by Bromius at 10:21 AM on November 20, 2006
I got some stacks of Sacajewa dollars; they're useful in San Francisco for riding Muni. But the Sacajewa dollars feel more or less like quarters, and I'd spent three or four as quarters before I realized what I was doing away and put them away. I guess I'm one of those evil hoarding collectors now.
It's funny, I've been using Euro coins for the past three months and have never once been confused about what coin I was using. The dollar+ coins are all two circles of metal, one inside the other, and you can very quickly feel it in your hand.
posted by Nelson at 10:24 AM on November 20, 2006
It's funny, I've been using Euro coins for the past three months and have never once been confused about what coin I was using. The dollar+ coins are all two circles of metal, one inside the other, and you can very quickly feel it in your hand.
posted by Nelson at 10:24 AM on November 20, 2006
The law specifies no living former president can appear on a coin, but chances are high that Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will still be alive when it comes time for their dollars in 2017.
Poor Gerald.
posted by cillit bang at 10:31 AM on November 20, 2006
Poor Gerald.
posted by cillit bang at 10:31 AM on November 20, 2006
smackfu, the law actually states
‘(E) LIMITATION IN SERIES TO DECEASED PRESIDENTS.—
No coin issued under this subsection may bear the image
of a living former or current President, or of any deceased
former President during the 2-year period following the
date of the death of that President.
So if they're still alive, no coin.
Floydd:
‘‘(ii) NONCONSECUTIVE TERMS.—If a President has
served during 2 or more nonconsecutive periods of
service, a coin shall be issued under this subsection
for each such nonconsecutive period of service.
So, two Grovers.
We should put this in perspective. US currency and coinage, at least before the 50-state quarters, changes less often than any other country's. Collectors have complained about this for, well, as long as I can remember. There's a decent profit to be made from the collectors market.
I really don't know how much of the resistance was the Treasury itself and how much Congress. The implementation of the commemoratives seems to be all Congress's dicta though. The postal service has all the initiative it ever needs regarding stamp series, but we have to have a bill specifying every last iota of a coin series? Waste of governance if you ask me. But this will help the relationship of the mint and the BEP with collectors no doubt.
It's silly to think of it as a way to circulate an unwanted coin. It probably won't work. But it's an improvement, however slight, over prior efforts.
That's also clearly the judgement of the Sacagawea. The SBA dollar had so many negatives, especially because both humans and machines could mistake them for quarters. The Sacagawea was specifically designed to overcome some of these limitations. I think it's a good design and a step forward, and getting the post office to circulate them was a great move, but obviously not enough. Having vending machines dispense them is a great move, but obviously not enough.
Now, if they got vending machines to accept dollar coins, that would be a huge step. People would finally have a reason to actually carry them around. I'd love this if only because of all the damned paper dollars I've seen crinkled up in a reader. It's alwyas the last one you have, and always when you have the biggest sugar craving.
But I think that would be a necessary step before they could pull the dollar. And that step won't happen until there are enough in circulation. So ....
maybe this is a step towards that step which is a step towards that step.
posted by dhartung at 10:36 AM on November 20, 2006
‘(E) LIMITATION IN SERIES TO DECEASED PRESIDENTS.—
No coin issued under this subsection may bear the image
of a living former or current President, or of any deceased
former President during the 2-year period following the
date of the death of that President.
So if they're still alive, no coin.
Floydd:
‘‘(ii) NONCONSECUTIVE TERMS.—If a President has
served during 2 or more nonconsecutive periods of
service, a coin shall be issued under this subsection
for each such nonconsecutive period of service.
So, two Grovers.
We should put this in perspective. US currency and coinage, at least before the 50-state quarters, changes less often than any other country's. Collectors have complained about this for, well, as long as I can remember. There's a decent profit to be made from the collectors market.
I really don't know how much of the resistance was the Treasury itself and how much Congress. The implementation of the commemoratives seems to be all Congress's dicta though. The postal service has all the initiative it ever needs regarding stamp series, but we have to have a bill specifying every last iota of a coin series? Waste of governance if you ask me. But this will help the relationship of the mint and the BEP with collectors no doubt.
It's silly to think of it as a way to circulate an unwanted coin. It probably won't work. But it's an improvement, however slight, over prior efforts.
That's also clearly the judgement of the Sacagawea. The SBA dollar had so many negatives, especially because both humans and machines could mistake them for quarters. The Sacagawea was specifically designed to overcome some of these limitations. I think it's a good design and a step forward, and getting the post office to circulate them was a great move, but obviously not enough. Having vending machines dispense them is a great move, but obviously not enough.
Now, if they got vending machines to accept dollar coins, that would be a huge step. People would finally have a reason to actually carry them around. I'd love this if only because of all the damned paper dollars I've seen crinkled up in a reader. It's alwyas the last one you have, and always when you have the biggest sugar craving.
But I think that would be a necessary step before they could pull the dollar. And that step won't happen until there are enough in circulation. So ....
maybe this is a step towards that step which is a step towards that step.
posted by dhartung at 10:36 AM on November 20, 2006
I like the profusion of one and two dollar coins up here in Canada. They get too heavy to carry around and spend so instead I just horde them at home until the holiday season, then roll em up and take them to the bank. Its a savings plan where weight encourages you not to spend your money.
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 10:39 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 10:39 AM on November 20, 2006
(hit post instead of preview)
I think I'm right, because another big part of the act is "removal of barriers":
In addition to authorizing these new coins, the Presidential $1 Coin Act specifies measures to ensure that an adequate supply of $1 coins is available for commerce and collectors. It requires Federal agencies and instrumentalities (including certain nonappropriated fund instrumentalities), entities that operate any business on Federal property, the United States Postal Service, and certain transit systems to be fully capable of accepting and dispensing $1 coins and to display signs and notices of this capability.
posted by dhartung at 10:40 AM on November 20, 2006
I think I'm right, because another big part of the act is "removal of barriers":
In addition to authorizing these new coins, the Presidential $1 Coin Act specifies measures to ensure that an adequate supply of $1 coins is available for commerce and collectors. It requires Federal agencies and instrumentalities (including certain nonappropriated fund instrumentalities), entities that operate any business on Federal property, the United States Postal Service, and certain transit systems to be fully capable of accepting and dispensing $1 coins and to display signs and notices of this capability.
posted by dhartung at 10:40 AM on November 20, 2006
I once got a pile of those Sacagawea dollars from a cart-rental kiosk at LaGuardia. Tried to buy a snack with a couple of 'em at a Manhattan deli, guy looked at me like I'd handed him wampum or sea shells. Then very reluctantly accepted the idea they were legal tender, and rang up my purchase.
I really, truly don't get what it is with Americans and their resistance to new currency. There's quite literally not a single other place I've been to on the planet where people refuse to use new coins.
posted by gompa at 10:40 AM on November 20, 2006
I really, truly don't get what it is with Americans and their resistance to new currency. There's quite literally not a single other place I've been to on the planet where people refuse to use new coins.
posted by gompa at 10:40 AM on November 20, 2006
One time when I foolishly put a $20 into a post office vending machine and got as change a heavy pocketful of SBA and Sacagawea dollar coins to get rid of, I encountered a surprising number of vending machines that accepted them. Generally, if it fit in the coin slot, it counted it as a dollar.
posted by zsazsa at 10:43 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by zsazsa at 10:43 AM on November 20, 2006
The pound coin is still my favorite. It feels like it's worth $2.
posted by smackfu at 10:45 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by smackfu at 10:45 AM on November 20, 2006
Buying your CalTrain or MUNI tickets from the machine gives back change in a random assortment of Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony dollar coins. It's normal to me, coming from Canada, but I was even at the train station and gave a homeless man a Susan B. Anthony coin when he asked me for a dollar for the train, and he looked at it very curiously and I had to reassure him that it was a dollar, and the machine would take it for a ticket.
They end up just piling up at home because when you try to use them places, people think you're trying to slip them funny money, or underpay. Personally, I cannot get used to having all those grimy dollar bills in my wallet. In Canada, if you had four bills in your wallet, for example, you had at least twenty dollars. Here, I'll open my wallet and realize I have...oh wait, four dollars. Roll on dollar and two dollar coins.
posted by livii at 10:46 AM on November 20, 2006
They end up just piling up at home because when you try to use them places, people think you're trying to slip them funny money, or underpay. Personally, I cannot get used to having all those grimy dollar bills in my wallet. In Canada, if you had four bills in your wallet, for example, you had at least twenty dollars. Here, I'll open my wallet and realize I have...oh wait, four dollars. Roll on dollar and two dollar coins.
posted by livii at 10:46 AM on November 20, 2006
Coin hoards. A bizarre phenomenon, really. And not the same as coin hordes.
posted by Rumple at 10:49 AM on November 20, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by Rumple at 10:49 AM on November 20, 2006 [1 favorite]
People clearly don't want dollar coins. It's cheaper for the mint (apperantly) but no one wants them.
If anything, they ought to go down to 50 and 25 cent bills.
posted by Paris Hilton at 10:51 AM on November 20, 2006
If anything, they ought to go down to 50 and 25 cent bills.
posted by Paris Hilton at 10:51 AM on November 20, 2006
They still print $2 bills?
Sure! Just ask for some at your bank. If they don't have any, they can get them for you. It's especially easy to find them around the holidays, when people ask for and use lots of twos.
There are some brand spankin' new Series 2003As out there if you're in the right place. Near me, it's still all 2003s when I get new crispy deuces, and I usually get a blend of older bills, including 1976s, of which there are plenty.
I spend deuces all the time. Makes ordinary interactions a little bit more interesting, kind of bumps people out of the fugue state for a second.
Most twos aren't valuable or rare! Go ahead and spend 'em.
posted by bink at 10:52 AM on November 20, 2006
Sure! Just ask for some at your bank. If they don't have any, they can get them for you. It's especially easy to find them around the holidays, when people ask for and use lots of twos.
There are some brand spankin' new Series 2003As out there if you're in the right place. Near me, it's still all 2003s when I get new crispy deuces, and I usually get a blend of older bills, including 1976s, of which there are plenty.
I spend deuces all the time. Makes ordinary interactions a little bit more interesting, kind of bumps people out of the fugue state for a second.
Most twos aren't valuable or rare! Go ahead and spend 'em.
posted by bink at 10:52 AM on November 20, 2006
It won't be nearly as cool as the 9/11 commemorative coin with **pop-up twin towers** in REAL WTO SILVER.
Why is the ad for that not on youTube so that I might share it with my freinds and mock it?
posted by Artw at 11:05 AM on November 20, 2006
Why is the ad for that not on youTube so that I might share it with my freinds and mock it?
posted by Artw at 11:05 AM on November 20, 2006
Damn you, Reagan, for starting the "Smiling Portrait" trend. Coins with real presidents on them tend to look dignified, but since they're clearly using the official portraits as models, that means I'm going to (very rarely) have to see that horrid insincere smiling dubya when I buy stamps in 2017.
posted by hoborg at 11:08 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by hoborg at 11:08 AM on November 20, 2006
I'm a big fan of the 1 and 2 Euro coins and would love to see a similar system here in the US. Buying a beer with a single coin is a joyous experience, indeed.
And it makes so much sense. Coins last infinitely longer than high circulation bills. It's a waste of paper and manpower to print 1 and 2 dollar notes - that it provides pork for Kennedy and other politicians shouldn't matter.
This being the US, however, common sense inevitably loses out. Add sensible coinage it to the list of things we ought to do but never will, behinduniversal health care and the metric system.
Back to the point of the thread: Envision, for a moment, the religious fervor with which Republicans will greet the Reagan coin. I susect we'll never actually see one in circulation. Unless, of course, they trickle down from somewhere . . .
posted by aladfar at 11:08 AM on November 20, 2006 [1 favorite]
And it makes so much sense. Coins last infinitely longer than high circulation bills. It's a waste of paper and manpower to print 1 and 2 dollar notes - that it provides pork for Kennedy and other politicians shouldn't matter.
This being the US, however, common sense inevitably loses out. Add sensible coinage it to the list of things we ought to do but never will, behinduniversal health care and the metric system.
Back to the point of the thread: Envision, for a moment, the religious fervor with which Republicans will greet the Reagan coin. I susect we'll never actually see one in circulation. Unless, of course, they trickle down from somewhere . . .
posted by aladfar at 11:08 AM on November 20, 2006 [1 favorite]
I'm a big fan of the 1 and 2 Euro coins and would love to see a similar system here in the US. Buying a beer with a single coin is a joyous experience, indeed.
And it makes so much sense. Coins last infinitely longer than high circulation bills. It's a waste of paper and manpower to print 1 and 2 dollar notes - that it provides pork for Kennedy and other politicians shouldn't matter.
This being the US, however, common sense inevitably loses out. Add sensible coinage it to the list of things we ought to do but never will, behinduniversal health care and the metric system.
Back to the point of the thread: Envision, for a moment, the religious fervor with which Republicans will greet the Reagan coin. I susect we'll never actually see one in circulation. Unless, of course, they trickle down from somewhere . . .
posted by aladfar at 11:08 AM on November 20, 2006
And it makes so much sense. Coins last infinitely longer than high circulation bills. It's a waste of paper and manpower to print 1 and 2 dollar notes - that it provides pork for Kennedy and other politicians shouldn't matter.
This being the US, however, common sense inevitably loses out. Add sensible coinage it to the list of things we ought to do but never will, behinduniversal health care and the metric system.
Back to the point of the thread: Envision, for a moment, the religious fervor with which Republicans will greet the Reagan coin. I susect we'll never actually see one in circulation. Unless, of course, they trickle down from somewhere . . .
posted by aladfar at 11:08 AM on November 20, 2006
At one of the local strip clubs, it's customary to tip the dancer with a $2 bill in her garter, rather than a $1.
Curiously, the fast food joints in the immediate vicinity give out a lot of $2 bills as change.
posted by LordSludge at 11:09 AM on November 20, 2006 [1 favorite]
Curiously, the fast food joints in the immediate vicinity give out a lot of $2 bills as change.
posted by LordSludge at 11:09 AM on November 20, 2006 [1 favorite]
You bring up a good point, LordSludge. Think of the strippers if we get rid of the $1 bill! A stripper with a bunch of $1 coins in her g-string will not be nearly as appealing.
posted by pardonyou? at 11:19 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by pardonyou? at 11:19 AM on November 20, 2006
Dollar coins in, pennies out. Yeah, we don't have Inflation anymore. Sure. Uh huh.
/sarcasm for those unable to grasp the obvious
posted by wendell at 11:20 AM on November 20, 2006
/sarcasm for those unable to grasp the obvious
posted by wendell at 11:20 AM on November 20, 2006
Most twos aren't valuable or rare! Go ahead and spend 'em.
That's the underlying problem, I think. Not resistance, but the belief that these coins are "collectible" and will be valuable someday. If we can rid people of this delusion, they'll stop hoarding them. If.
posted by QuietDesperation at 11:36 AM on November 20, 2006
That's the underlying problem, I think. Not resistance, but the belief that these coins are "collectible" and will be valuable someday. If we can rid people of this delusion, they'll stop hoarding them. If.
posted by QuietDesperation at 11:36 AM on November 20, 2006
I really, truly don't get what it is with Americans and their resistance to new currency. There's quite literally not a single other place I've been to on the planet where people refuse to use new coins.
Short answer: it's because we're dumb and we don't pay attention.
It's one (pathetic) thing to resist new currency, it's another thing to not even be fucking aware that it exists, as a few of the anecdotes in this thread relate.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:51 AM on November 20, 2006
Short answer: it's because we're dumb and we don't pay attention.
It's one (pathetic) thing to resist new currency, it's another thing to not even be fucking aware that it exists, as a few of the anecdotes in this thread relate.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:51 AM on November 20, 2006
What problem does a dollar coin solve for the average user?
posted by smackfu at 11:54 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by smackfu at 11:54 AM on November 20, 2006
I really, truly don't get what it is with Americans and their resistance to new currency. There's quite literally not a single other place I've been to on the planet where people refuse to use new coins.
Because dollar coins are terrible? They are heavy and annoying and unwieldy? They force you to carry a wallet and a change purse (especially if you wear skirts & dresses)? I like travelling, but the whole dollar and two-dollar (or local eqivalent) coins make me miserable.
posted by dame at 12:05 PM on November 20, 2006
Because dollar coins are terrible? They are heavy and annoying and unwieldy? They force you to carry a wallet and a change purse (especially if you wear skirts & dresses)? I like travelling, but the whole dollar and two-dollar (or local eqivalent) coins make me miserable.
posted by dame at 12:05 PM on November 20, 2006
I have a Sacajawea coin in my pocket right now. Don't spend it - just carry it around. Mint website said it would hold up to "30 years of simulated wear in a pocket". So far, it's been in my actual pocket for 5 years. Only 25 more to go to see if they were right.
To be fair to the Mint, it quickly developed a dark tarnish but hasn't changed much since, except for some noticeable shiny spots where high points in the coin rub against other coins and keys in my pocket.
I guess I'm part of the problem then, aren't I? Hoarding my coin. I did accidentally spend it once as a tip at a coffee shop, but got it back when I offered to trade a paper bill for the coin. Surprisingly, there were several of te gold dollars in the tip jar - and [sad as it may be] I could identify "my" coin by sight.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:06 PM on November 20, 2006
To be fair to the Mint, it quickly developed a dark tarnish but hasn't changed much since, except for some noticeable shiny spots where high points in the coin rub against other coins and keys in my pocket.
I guess I'm part of the problem then, aren't I? Hoarding my coin. I did accidentally spend it once as a tip at a coffee shop, but got it back when I offered to trade a paper bill for the coin. Surprisingly, there were several of te gold dollars in the tip jar - and [sad as it may be] I could identify "my" coin by sight.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:06 PM on November 20, 2006
If we can rid people of this delusion, they'll stop hoarding them.
The whole point is for people to horde them. It's a license to print money!
posted by Chuckles at 12:08 PM on November 20, 2006
The whole point is for people to horde them. It's a license to print money!
posted by Chuckles at 12:08 PM on November 20, 2006
The law specifies no living former president can appear on a coin, but chances are high that Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will still be alive when it comes time for their dollars in 2017.
Oh Man!! Does this mean the US Mint is going to put a hit out on some of our washed up presidents just to complete the minting schedule?
One can only hope.
posted by Balisong at 12:15 PM on November 20, 2006
Oh Man!! Does this mean the US Mint is going to put a hit out on some of our washed up presidents just to complete the minting schedule?
One can only hope.
posted by Balisong at 12:15 PM on November 20, 2006
I think the coins would be more obviously not quarters if they were thicker. Also, maybe they can combine the two Bush presidents by having W in Sacajawea's papoose?
Maybe they can do this with the Adamses and Roosevelts too, just to save time/money.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 12:15 PM on November 20, 2006
Maybe they can do this with the Adamses and Roosevelts too, just to save time/money.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 12:15 PM on November 20, 2006
I really like the idea of dollar coins -- I love the €1 and €2 coins, and unlike a number of people I met in Britain I like the £1 coins too. If I see 'em I'll use 'em no matter who's on 'em. But presidents?
*yawn*
Until this country starts putting its artists, writers, musicians and other historically prominent non-politicians on its currency and gives its worshipful love affair with presidents a break, I won't be able to work up any enthusiasm over new currency. Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea were good first tries, but why can't we have people like Martin Luther King, Walt Whitman, Eudora Welty, Louis Armstrong, Aaron Copeland, Emily Dickinson or Amelia Earhart to name a few, and maybe some Frank Lloyd Wright houses or the Yosemite Valley on the reverse instead of The White House and The Lincoln Memorial.
Yeah, I know, don't hold yer breath, chuq ...
posted by chuq at 12:16 PM on November 20, 2006
*yawn*
Until this country starts putting its artists, writers, musicians and other historically prominent non-politicians on its currency and gives its worshipful love affair with presidents a break, I won't be able to work up any enthusiasm over new currency. Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea were good first tries, but why can't we have people like Martin Luther King, Walt Whitman, Eudora Welty, Louis Armstrong, Aaron Copeland, Emily Dickinson or Amelia Earhart to name a few, and maybe some Frank Lloyd Wright houses or the Yosemite Valley on the reverse instead of The White House and The Lincoln Memorial.
Yeah, I know, don't hold yer breath, chuq ...
posted by chuq at 12:16 PM on November 20, 2006
Sacajawea as played by Bush the elder, I mean.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 12:16 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 12:16 PM on November 20, 2006
They used to make Dutch Guilders in 2.5 and 5 guilder denominations.
Didn't Ali G suggest we make a separate bill for every possible combination like the $3.38 bill or the $2.51 bill, etc.?
posted by mattbucher at 12:23 PM on November 20, 2006
Didn't Ali G suggest we make a separate bill for every possible combination like the $3.38 bill or the $2.51 bill, etc.?
posted by mattbucher at 12:23 PM on November 20, 2006
smackfu:
posted by Fezboy! at 12:25 PM on November 20, 2006
- laundering them isn't nearly so detrimental
- it's rather more difficult to get a torn dollar coin as change
- more transactions / currency unit == lower tax burden for maintaining monetary supply
- strippers who use their breastesses to liberate my tip will have to get a whole lot closer
- no more crinkly bar money on a Sunday morning
posted by Fezboy! at 12:25 PM on November 20, 2006
I'm in ur pockets hoarding ur coins.
I've never done one of those before. It lacks a certain je ne sais quoi.
posted by emelenjr at 12:43 PM on November 20, 2006
I've never done one of those before. It lacks a certain je ne sais quoi.
posted by emelenjr at 12:43 PM on November 20, 2006
I'ma just throw in as one of the people who likes the 1 and 2 dollar coins.
posted by ddf at 12:44 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by ddf at 12:44 PM on November 20, 2006
Buying a beer with a single coin is a joyous experience, indeed.
It's gonna take more than the proliferation of dollar coins before we can do that in the US.
posted by nickmark at 1:16 PM on November 20, 2006
It's gonna take more than the proliferation of dollar coins before we can do that in the US.
posted by nickmark at 1:16 PM on November 20, 2006
I love my debit card.
I dislike paper cash but tolerate it
I loathe being saddled with a load of coins.
I'm quite sure the number of folks that agree with me is growing.
This "multi face" idea shant have any effect on the above, so I guess you lose Mr. Mint.
posted by Jezztek at 1:26 PM on November 20, 2006
I dislike paper cash but tolerate it
I loathe being saddled with a load of coins.
I'm quite sure the number of folks that agree with me is growing.
This "multi face" idea shant have any effect on the above, so I guess you lose Mr. Mint.
posted by Jezztek at 1:26 PM on November 20, 2006
If they are indeed using the official portraits, then it's going to be interesting to see how they handle a coin without a "face" when they get to Kennedy
posted by 1f2frfbf at 1:30 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by 1f2frfbf at 1:30 PM on November 20, 2006
At one of the local strip clubs, it's customary to tip the dancer with a $2 bill in her garter, rather than a $1.
Curiously, the fast food joints in the immediate vicinity give out a lot of $2 bills as change.
From this steady supply of fast food twos I deduce you go to a strip club specializes in both plus sized dancers and customers keeping the bills circulating.
I've never done one of those before. It lacks a certain je ne sais quoi.
I'm in ur meme lacking ur sais quoi
posted by srboisvert at 1:31 PM on November 20, 2006 [2 favorites]
Curiously, the fast food joints in the immediate vicinity give out a lot of $2 bills as change.
From this steady supply of fast food twos I deduce you go to a strip club specializes in both plus sized dancers and customers keeping the bills circulating.
I've never done one of those before. It lacks a certain je ne sais quoi.
I'm in ur meme lacking ur sais quoi
posted by srboisvert at 1:31 PM on November 20, 2006 [2 favorites]
Back to the point of the thread: Envision, for a moment, the religious fervor with which Republicans will greet the Reagan coin. I susect we'll never actually see one in circulation.
I suspect the whole thing is a backdoor way of getting Ron's face on a coin, part of the Reagan Legacy Project.
On a side note, I'm surprised nobody complained about misspelling Britain in the title.
posted by scalefree at 1:32 PM on November 20, 2006
I suspect the whole thing is a backdoor way of getting Ron's face on a coin, part of the Reagan Legacy Project.
On a side note, I'm surprised nobody complained about misspelling Britain in the title.
posted by scalefree at 1:32 PM on November 20, 2006
If they are indeed using the official portraits, then it's going to be interesting to see how they handle a coin without a "face" when they get to Kennedy
Or they could just use his image from the 50-cent piece. Sheesh.
posted by mattbucher at 1:45 PM on November 20, 2006
Or they could just use his image from the 50-cent piece. Sheesh.
posted by mattbucher at 1:45 PM on November 20, 2006
mattbucher:Or they could just use his image from the 50-cent piece. Sheesh.
I'm well aware Kennedy is on the fifty cent pice, (why don't we have a nickname for that one yet?). But the comment about official portraits piqued my curiosity. Reading the law, however, I see it's not mandated, so I suppose my comment is a little off, but the first four coins are obviously inspired by the official portraits, so it'll be interesting to see how long that trend continues.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 1:57 PM on November 20, 2006
I'm well aware Kennedy is on the fifty cent pice, (why don't we have a nickname for that one yet?). But the comment about official portraits piqued my curiosity. Reading the law, however, I see it's not mandated, so I suppose my comment is a little off, but the first four coins are obviously inspired by the official portraits, so it'll be interesting to see how long that trend continues.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 1:57 PM on November 20, 2006
Dollar coins good. Soft drink vending machines.
Grunt.
*surreptitiously slips a Sacagawea into pants*
posted by Smedleyman at 2:01 PM on November 20, 2006
Grunt.
*surreptitiously slips a Sacagawea into pants*
posted by Smedleyman at 2:01 PM on November 20, 2006
OK. I see what you are saying. They could use this portrait of JFK that resides in the National Portrait Gallery. It's head-on rather than profile anyways.
posted by mattbucher at 2:02 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by mattbucher at 2:02 PM on November 20, 2006
The 50-state quarters program didn't just "work" because they were different designs. They are also reasonably attractive and different designs, people quickly got the idea of using the different states and recognized it as a way to interest the kiddies in coin collecting and teach them a little U.S. history and geography at the same time, the program got lots of boosts from third-party entreprenuers selling 50-state quarter folders to keep them in, and most importantly, the "collectible" items don't have that much intrinsic value to begin with. Heck, each one is just a quarter.
I don't see the same interest taking off for saving 40 dollar coins, a dollar at a time, and I don't anticipate many "Hey, have you seen the new Fillmore coin? Pretty, huh?" conversations either.
The mint did one program right in the last sixty years and they are now just trying to repeat it over and over again. How much interest has anyone seen in collecting all the Westward Journey Nickel Series?
posted by yhbc at 2:16 PM on November 20, 2006
I don't see the same interest taking off for saving 40 dollar coins, a dollar at a time, and I don't anticipate many "Hey, have you seen the new Fillmore coin? Pretty, huh?" conversations either.
The mint did one program right in the last sixty years and they are now just trying to repeat it over and over again. How much interest has anyone seen in collecting all the Westward Journey Nickel Series?
posted by yhbc at 2:16 PM on November 20, 2006
Are these dollar coins metric ? Because that would make a difference to me.
posted by docpops at 2:32 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by docpops at 2:32 PM on November 20, 2006
Until the vending machine purveyors get on board we will not have a coin that's as thick as the one-euro or one-pound coins. The reason it's so easy to use the euro or pound coins is that you can instantly feel they're thicker than the fractional coins.
The Mint is going to screw this up again and they're going to do it by allowing vending-machine manufacturers to dictate the coin's thickness.
posted by jet_silver at 3:26 PM on November 20, 2006
The Mint is going to screw this up again and they're going to do it by allowing vending-machine manufacturers to dictate the coin's thickness.
posted by jet_silver at 3:26 PM on November 20, 2006
"On a side note, I'm surprised nobody complained about misspelling Britain in the title."
I also am surprised no one noticed that. (and I'm the one who wrote it)
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 3:32 PM on November 20, 2006
I also am surprised no one noticed that. (and I'm the one who wrote it)
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 3:32 PM on November 20, 2006
It's sure annoying to have to load a washing machine with 8 quarters for a load, but I have to wonder if the expense of collecting and transporting all those quarters isn't the only thing keeping the price down. If dollar coins become widely used, what's to stop them from asking $3, $4, $5 a load? Similarly for parking meters, etc. I worry that switching to dollar coins could be a phase change that lets loose another round of inflation.
posted by purple_frogs at 4:16 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by purple_frogs at 4:16 PM on November 20, 2006
I. Hate. Coins.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:18 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by five fresh fish at 4:18 PM on November 20, 2006
scalefree: I suspect the whole thing is a backdoor way of getting Ron's face on a coin
Well after the initial rotation is over, they will eventually have to settle on just one president.
posted by o0o0o at 4:33 PM on November 20, 2006
Well after the initial rotation is over, they will eventually have to settle on just one president.
posted by o0o0o at 4:33 PM on November 20, 2006
It makes me nervouse when people start messing around with America's money.
posted by rougy at 4:54 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by rougy at 4:54 PM on November 20, 2006
I love the idea that people holding onto the state quarters think that they'll be worth something. Hooray. For keeping an entire set of quarters for 80 years you'll have made almost $13.
but they're limited edition
posted by hoborg at 5:05 PM on November 20, 2006
but they're limited edition
posted by hoborg at 5:05 PM on November 20, 2006
purple_frogs, I've had to put 16+ quarters in large capacity machines.
posted by flaterik at 5:17 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by flaterik at 5:17 PM on November 20, 2006
purple_frogs, I've had to put 16+ quarters in large capacity machines.
Goodness! I'd hate to lug those around. Must be a conspiracy by the clothing manufacturers to wear our pockets out so we need new ones. :P
I hope you at least get 2 normal loads' worth in such a machine! Or does "large capacity" just refer to the number of quarters they hold?
posted by purple_frogs at 5:33 PM on November 20, 2006
Goodness! I'd hate to lug those around. Must be a conspiracy by the clothing manufacturers to wear our pockets out so we need new ones. :P
I hope you at least get 2 normal loads' worth in such a machine! Or does "large capacity" just refer to the number of quarters they hold?
posted by purple_frogs at 5:33 PM on November 20, 2006
Those machines are more like 3 or 4 loads. I only use them if I have an obscene amount of laundry and don't want to spend all day doing it, or I need to wash an oversized item like a down comforter.
Luckily they have change machines there, so it doesn't cut into the quarter hoard I use for the regular sized machines at my apartment.
posted by flaterik at 6:16 PM on November 20, 2006
Luckily they have change machines there, so it doesn't cut into the quarter hoard I use for the regular sized machines at my apartment.
posted by flaterik at 6:16 PM on November 20, 2006
I collect them and try to incorporate them in my retail transactions but his ability to generate coins exceeds my opportunities to spend them
Isn't this because they're small rather than because they're coins? Surely you accumulate and spend the same amount of one-dollar currency regardless of whether it's paper or metal.
posted by cillit bang at 7:55 PM on November 20, 2006
Isn't this because they're small rather than because they're coins? Surely you accumulate and spend the same amount of one-dollar currency regardless of whether it's paper or metal.
posted by cillit bang at 7:55 PM on November 20, 2006
Dollar coins are good, and pretty much every other country on the planet has learned this in the last 20 years with their own coins to replace their smallest bills.
Singles are archaic, but they're one of the things that the country clings to, like the stubborn irrational refusal to accept the goddamn metric system. They're such a waste that they don't even GO in my wallet, which is reserved for bigger bills. Dollar bills end up crumpled in the bottom of various pockets. I suspect I'm not alone in this.
As for adoption... it doesn't matter if they put a gay President or a Native American chick on it: the dollar coin will only work when the dollar bill is cancelled, and not a day sooner. Again, see any other country's effort for evidence of this.
posted by rokusan at 9:59 PM on November 20, 2006
Singles are archaic, but they're one of the things that the country clings to, like the stubborn irrational refusal to accept the goddamn metric system. They're such a waste that they don't even GO in my wallet, which is reserved for bigger bills. Dollar bills end up crumpled in the bottom of various pockets. I suspect I'm not alone in this.
As for adoption... it doesn't matter if they put a gay President or a Native American chick on it: the dollar coin will only work when the dollar bill is cancelled, and not a day sooner. Again, see any other country's effort for evidence of this.
posted by rokusan at 9:59 PM on November 20, 2006
Funky Dollar Coin just doesn't have the same je ne sais quoi.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:07 PM on November 20, 2006
posted by Pollomacho at 10:07 PM on November 20, 2006
I've heard that the monetary value stamped on the GWBush coin will be: "IOU".
posted by tgyg at 12:21 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by tgyg at 12:21 AM on November 21, 2006
So how long before the anti-coin pro-bill movement whose spokesman will get unusually generous air time on FOX?
When we stop using dollar bills, the terrorists have won.
Can we lobby the legislature of South Dakota to do something about this affront to the memory of George Washington?
posted by attaboy at 1:57 AM on November 21, 2006
When we stop using dollar bills, the terrorists have won.
Can we lobby the legislature of South Dakota to do something about this affront to the memory of George Washington?
posted by attaboy at 1:57 AM on November 21, 2006
I'd like to see coins with obscure people from important moments in US history, such as a coin for each signer of the declaration or the constitution.
posted by borkencode at 2:47 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by borkencode at 2:47 AM on November 21, 2006
The biggest bummer about the dollar coins is that it's tough to stamp Where's George? on them.
Worse, it'd only be good for three months... and then you'd have to get new etching devices saying Where's John, Where's Thomas, Where's James, Where's John Quincy...
posted by bink at 5:44 AM on November 21, 2006
Worse, it'd only be good for three months... and then you'd have to get new etching devices saying Where's John, Where's Thomas, Where's James, Where's John Quincy...
posted by bink at 5:44 AM on November 21, 2006
I really don't see any great arguments for replacing the dollar bill here. Big change requires big benefit. Hand-waving about how other countries did it so we should just do it isn't very convincing.
posted by smackfu at 6:26 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by smackfu at 6:26 AM on November 21, 2006
Dollar coins are good, and pretty much every other country on the planet has learned this in the last 20 years with their own coins to replace their smallest bills.
Dollar coins certainly save the government a trifling amount of money. They're good in that sense.
But why on earth would they be good for citizens? What service do they provide for common or garden variety schmucks? If they were good, other countries wouldn't have had to cancel the bills in order to get people to adopt them.
I find the loonies and toonies mildly annoying when I'm in Canada. I want a pocket of change to be just that -- a pocket full of an inconsequential amount of money, not enough money to buy a cd.
Unless they put Elvis on them. I'd be tickled to throw down a couple Kings to buy a slurpee. Couple kings for a slurpee, that's what they said back when we whupped Kaiser Bill.... I had a wombat up my arse, which was the style at the time.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:55 AM on November 21, 2006
Dollar coins certainly save the government a trifling amount of money. They're good in that sense.
But why on earth would they be good for citizens? What service do they provide for common or garden variety schmucks? If they were good, other countries wouldn't have had to cancel the bills in order to get people to adopt them.
I find the loonies and toonies mildly annoying when I'm in Canada. I want a pocket of change to be just that -- a pocket full of an inconsequential amount of money, not enough money to buy a cd.
Unless they put Elvis on them. I'd be tickled to throw down a couple Kings to buy a slurpee. Couple kings for a slurpee, that's what they said back when we whupped Kaiser Bill.... I had a wombat up my arse, which was the style at the time.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:55 AM on November 21, 2006
I love my debit card.
I dislike paper cash but tolerate it
I loathe being saddled with a load of coins.
I'm quite sure the number of folks that agree with me is growing.
Apparently so. The US mint going Postal Service by trying to decide which hard currency gimmick will woo back the cashless generation seems like so much rearranging deck chairs on the Hindenburg at this point. And I say that as a crusty Luddite.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:37 AM on November 21, 2006
I dislike paper cash but tolerate it
I loathe being saddled with a load of coins.
I'm quite sure the number of folks that agree with me is growing.
Apparently so. The US mint going Postal Service by trying to decide which hard currency gimmick will woo back the cashless generation seems like so much rearranging deck chairs on the Hindenburg at this point. And I say that as a crusty Luddite.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:37 AM on November 21, 2006
Um, apparently I'm so much of a Luddite that I can't manage to post a link.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:42 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:42 AM on November 21, 2006
This bartender and I got into a fight over my tip using a Susan B. Anthony dollar. She thought it was a quarter and refused to beleive me that it was a dollar. For the next hour, she refused to give me anything to drink for over an hour. I ended up giving her a five dollar tip to stop ruining my night. I don't think she deserved it at all, but I was amongst friends I hadn't seen in ages. This was especially surreal considering I just came back from Europe where their eyes glow over both a) a tip at all and b) a two Euro COIN.
posted by portisfreak at 9:18 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by portisfreak at 9:18 AM on November 21, 2006
The Sterling £1 coin is the greatest such token ever manufactured. It's small, chunky, and unusually dense. Put ten of them in a sock and they instantly become an effective bludgeoning device.
The Euro is not very good for this sort of thing, and the US coins are all very weedy indeed. I will only take any dollar coins seriously if I can be assured of delivering a good pounding with only a small, convenient quantity.
posted by meehawl at 3:19 PM on November 21, 2006
The Euro is not very good for this sort of thing, and the US coins are all very weedy indeed. I will only take any dollar coins seriously if I can be assured of delivering a good pounding with only a small, convenient quantity.
posted by meehawl at 3:19 PM on November 21, 2006
I loathe coinage. I'm shafted with coins from penny to two-dollar sizes. Weigh down my pockets with pounds of excess change?! Gah.
I suspect I'm not alone in this loathing for change: Canadians are, IIRC, the leading country for using debit cards.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:56 PM on November 21, 2006
I suspect I'm not alone in this loathing for change: Canadians are, IIRC, the leading country for using debit cards.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:56 PM on November 21, 2006
I think they need to put Liberty back on the dollar. That is one hot anthropomorphized attribute.
posted by Deathalicious at 11:01 PM on November 21, 2006
posted by Deathalicious at 11:01 PM on November 21, 2006
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posted by smackfu at 10:02 AM on November 20, 2006